Thursday, April 29, 2010

One Week And Counting

International Pop Overthrow started its 2010 tour of Chicago last Thursday at The Abbey, and now there are just three days left to catch one of these multi-act showcases. The action moves back to Red Line Tap tonight. All acts are local except as noted.

Larry O. Dean’s power pop credentials include time spent with the clever and catchy Post Office. A poet and artist as well as a musician, he brought a light, comedic touch to Fun With A Purpose, his latest CD with The Injured Parties. Look for Dean to perform some engaging musical portraits when the band opens tonight’s festivities at 8:00PM.

Milwaukee natives Certain Stars add biting lyrics to garage rock songs like “You’re A Caution” and “highschoolalloveragain.” The band released the five-song EP Wired For Sound in 2007 and the full length Times Like These Call For Tambourines in 2004.

Greg Pope comes from Nashville, Tennessee, and plays irresistibly melodic pop songs like “Fall Into Your Arms” and “The Only Thing I’ve Got” that evoke the British Invasion days of The Kinks with layered vocals and chiming guitars. He’ll have two critically acclaimed CDs, Popmonster and Pete, to draw from when he takes the stage at 9:00PM.

Taking its name from one of the Hamburg clubs The Beatles played back in their earliest days, Kaiserkeller specializes in raw but catchy tunes like “Faces” and “Flower Hill.” The band lists itself as “undiscovered” on its MySpace page, but hopefully that won’t be the case for long.

Eric Howell mixes elements of Americana music into his energetic mainstream rock, but can also delve into classic power pop on tunes like the satirical “Wubby Station.” He tends to rotate members in and out of his band The Implants, and he’s worked with some of Chicago’s better musicians over the years. Speaking of years, Howell has made a funny promo clip with special guests explaining how long it took to complete his Greatest Hitch CD. The audience will hear the results of that quest tonight at Red Line Tap.

Multi-instrumentalist Andy Stone isn’t a lead vocalist, so he recruited people like Tom Godsman, Phil Angotti, Mike Przygoda, and Danny Malone to sing on his You Don’t See Many Of These Nowadays and In The Coffee Shop, When CDs. Stone’s well-crafted compositions recall the mid-1960s with light arrangements and layered vocals. It should be interesting to see who he’ll have on stage with him for tonight’s gig.

You have to like a band that titles its latest CD, Welcome To My End Of The Rope. Tonight’s headline act Missile exudes an offbeat sense of humor on guitar-fueled garage rock tunes like “Real Job” and “Greased Slide To Hell.” Singer-guitarist Don puts across the funny lyrics with a brash attitude while drummer Jeff and bassist Josh join in on backup vocals.

IPO kicks off the weekend tomorrow night by returning to Bird’s Nest with a seven act lineup that includes headliners The Webstirs. Note: there are two showcases at The Abbey on Saturday; the first starting at 1:00PM and the second starting at 9:00PM. Be sure to check out International Pop Overthrow before it moves on to Milwaukee.

1 comment:

Followers

About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.